


Contract Work

by kuwdora



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Humor, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-29
Updated: 2010-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-14 04:59:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/145621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuwdora/pseuds/kuwdora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I’m not going to be your rentboy,” Henry said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contract Work

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel/follow-up to sheikah's [Throw Down the Gauntlet](http://sheikah.livejournal.com/396165.html) in which Will and Henry were in a charity bachelor auction. Helen bought Will but Nikola bought Henry for a little over $67,000.

Henry was combing through the latest diagnostics of the internal sensors and his blogroll when Tesla meandered into his lab, his swagger making him anxious enough that Henry sat up and cleared his throat. This was going to be so damn awkward.

“Good afternoon,” Tesla said, bright and polite, surveying the chaos of the lab as he came to stand before his desk.

“Hiya,” Henry said and spun to look at the other monitor to compare his readings, wondering if he could fabricate a massive system problem that could get him out of whatever Tesla wanted.

“I assume Helen’s informed you about the terms of our arrangement,” Tesla said and from his peripheral Henry watched him remove several items from the nearest to-fix crate.

“Yes," he muttered and toggled through the windows on his screens. He only agreed to do the charity auction because the Doc had finagled him into doing it but the fact that he wound up removing his shirt on a stage before complete strangers was to win a bet with Kate. She now had to take over his duties for taking care of the rataphooska feeding for a month; he didn't have to worry about getting surprise slimed for quite awhile.

“Come now, I won’t sully your innocence,” Tesla demurred and Henry pushed the keyboard tray away and rose from his chair.

“I’m not going to be your rentboy,” Henry said and Tesla stared at him, deadpan.

“Believe it or not, I actually purchased you for your brains, not your beauty,” he said and narrowed his eyes once he pushed aside the bundle of wires from the crate, the sight inducing a hmm. Henry blinked, lifting his chin enough to see: of course the DYVAR-2 caught Tesla’s attention.

Tesla picked up the small weapon gingerly, examining—no, scrutinizing his design and craftsmanship and Henry bit the inside his cheek. The DYVAR-1 had given Farah, their trainee from Cairo, a particularly nasty burn when she had fired it in down at the docks and he hadn’t had time to finish the upgrades. Henry held out his hand expectantly but Tesla tilted his head and instead reached for a screwdriver.

“Hey, do you mind?” Henry asked.

Tesla ignored him and Henry glanced at his watch. It was going to be impossible to spend a whole evening of being in the man’s company when they weren’t even working under threat of Imminent Doom.

“I’m in need of assistance on this pet project I’ve been working on for more than a few decades,” Tesla said and popped off the hatch that revealed the power supply.

“I am not going to help you resurrect the vampire race, so don’t even ask,” Henry said.

“Oh, please. I don't need to solicit your help for something of that magnitude and brilliance--and as if I would share that with the likes of you anyway,” he said. The thin veneer of Tesla’s sneer gave Henry the urge to punch him but he was still surprised by the jab to his pride, even if he wasn’t interested in helping in the first place.

“And today goes well, I may consider offering you additional work,” he added matter-of-factly.

“Additional work,” Henry said. He tried not to roll eyes. Like he needed more work.

Tesla looked up, locking eyes with him. “This will be strictly confidential, so I don't want you flapping your lips, not to Helen or anyone else for that matter, nor will it interfere with your day job."

Henry raised an eyebrow and Tesla handed the weapon back to him. “Clever fuel cell design. A bit slapdash, but I’m assuming it’s surprisingly efficient,” Tesla added. Backhanded compliments were ubiquitous with the man but Henry'd kinda gotten used to them by now. They were annoying as hell, yet when they came from him.... well, it always managed to keep him on his toes because they were so far and few between.

He took the screwdriver, secured the latch for the power supply and put it back in the crate before shoving his hands into his vest pockets. “So what is it that we’re going to be doing? You know that I’m only forced to spend time with you until midnight, right?”

Tesla pulled a thumb drive from his pocket, holding it up for him to see. “We are going to be pushing the boundaries of science in ways that you can’t even begin to imagine, my dear lupine friend and we have ten hours to do it.” The storage device swung like a pendulum from his hand and Henry reached for it, trying to stifle his mounting curiosity.

"You are going to give me ever penny's worth," he said as Henry flopped back into his seat. Tesla braced his hands on the chair, pushing him towards the desk. He plugged in the drive and figured this whole situation could have been worse after the nightmare scenarios Will had painted.

As Henry opened up the first few image files--specs, some of them hand-drawn and scanned, other half digitally rendered in 3D, his second monitor erupted in lines of code that actually took his breath away.

"Okay, this... is so cool," he said. Henry glanced over his shoulder and Tesla gave him a broad smile.

"Let's get to work."


End file.
